VCT 2022 NA Stage 1 - Version1, XSET, The Guard & NRG qualify

The first of two open qualifiers in North America has come to an end with some thrilling matches and drama to go with it. Version1, XSET, The Guard & NRG Esports are the first four qualified teams to make their way to the main event where they will meet invited teams; Sentinels, Envy, Cloud9 & 100 Thieves.

Version1 were favourites to qualify and they did so in emphatic fashion, taking out Kowareta, Complexity, Akrew and Rise without dropping a single map in the double elimination stage. The team collectively were the best overall team racking up a team ACS of 236.40 with Jordan "Zellsis" Montemurro leading the charge with a mighty 1.55 rating, 253.50 ACS, 160.80 ADR and a 1.81 KD.

V1 made light work of Complexity in the upper bracket round of 16, match MVP Zellsis led his team to victory with a 13-7 & 13-2 map scores to advance to the next round where they took on Akrew. Many thought this would be a great battle and go all the way in the best of three series but V1 took their momentum from the get go and took them down 13-6 & 13-4, this time it was Alexander "Zander" Dituri turn to shine with 41 kills. The upper bracket semi final was the qualifier decider match where they faced an in-form Rise, again this was expected to be a close game but V1 took them in their stride and breezed past them. Zellsis once again was the man who took the MVP award but Erik "penny" Penny also made an impact in the match with his 36 kills.

Version1 have looked very impressive throughout January and look to take their form from the qualifier into the main event where they will look to cement themselves amongst the North American elites.

XSET also qualified through the upper bracket where they showed great team spirit and battled their way through some tough opponents. This was the first event that XSET had participated in since NSG 2022 Winter Championship - Online Open 7 back in the end of November 2021 and their first event with their latest signing, Matthew "Cryocells" Panganiban. Their path to qualification was not quite as straightforward as Version1’s, they started by taking out IlluZion in the upper bracket round of 32 with ease but faced an unlikely tough test against Radiance who took them to all three maps and would be XSET’s only map loss of the qualifier.

They progressed to the next round where they faced NRG, a matchup where XSET had the upper hand in the head to head with 3 victories and one loss against NRG and this match was no exception to that statistic as they closed out a close 2-0 win, 13-9 & 13-11. Zachary "zekken" Patrone was the game changer with his 1.14 rating, 234 ACS and 154.90 ADR, on the other hand Daniel "eeiu" Vucenovic made this as difficult for XSET with his 1.17 rating, 226 ACS and 1.37 KD.

Their final match which led to qualification was against The Guard, another in-form North American team which have recently acquired new and exciting players. XSET took the first map, Split, in a quick 13-3 score line with all 5 XSET players stepping up. Next map was Bind where XSET’s new boy, Cryocells, dominated the opposition with an incredible 1.84 rating, 391 ACS, 217.9 ADR and a whopping 2.45 KD which led to a 13-6 win and the qualification spot.

XSET are now on a 13 win streak, their last defeat coming against the mighty Cloud9 in the [event=https://www.thespike.gg/events/north-america-last-chance-qualifier/993] last year.

The Guard’s journey to qualification was not an easy ask, they were first tasked against FaZe Clan who had recently announced their new roster which raised eyebrows in this fixture as it was the real first test for Faze, but it was The Guard who came out on top over the three maps. Jacob "valyn" Batio took the match MVP award with a 1.16 rating, 218 ACS, 140.80 ADR and a 1.23 KD. The next round was another hurdle for The Guard as they faced Luminosity Gaming. First map was Bind in which 4 overtimes were needed to break the ice and TG to take the win. Second map was Icebox which was another close encounter but the victory came within regulation rounds with TG’s newest signing, Trent "trent" Cairns, taking control and pushing his team to a 13-10 win and his own stats of 1.54 rating, 312 ACS, 213.30 ADR and a 1.53 KD.

After their first two opening matches in the double elimination stage, there was time to rest before they faced Pittsburgh Knights. Again, TG would be tested to the limit as the Knights pushed them to all three maps but it wasn’t enough to stop trent and his team as he once again stepped up with a 1.26 rating, 249 ACS, 169.80 ADR and a 1.5 KD.

As mentioned in the XSET section, The Guard took their first defeat of the qualifier which sent them down to the lower bracket to face Akrew where they bounced back with a 2-0 victory, valyn was the man to rally his team to qualification with a 1.33 rating, 228 ACS, 142.40 ADR and a 1.28 KD.

The Guard now have their first chance to show their abilities amongst the best in North America, uncharted territory for the upcoming team but with their performances through the qualifier we can be excited to see their performances in the main event.

NRG Esports the hardest route to qualification, a clean 2-0 win against Cosmic Divide set them up against NYFU, a match up where ABX had the better of NRG in the head to head stats and this match went to the limit in both maps, Haven at 13-11 and Breeze was taken to overtime at 14-12. After getting knocked down to the lower bracket after their upper bracket quarter final defeat against XSET they were matched up against Kansas City Pioneers in a 3 map battle, Breeze went in the favour of NRG and the Pioneers bounced back with the win on Ascent, the final map took place on Bind where NRG crushed the Pioneers 13-1 and James "hazed" Cobb showed his vast experience as he managed to get a 1.39 rating, 225 ACS, 137.50 ADR and a 1.57 KD.

NRG continued their performance the following day as they faced Pittsburgh Knights in which Bradley "ANDROID" Fodor lit up the server with an overall 1.70 Rating, 304 ACS, 196.30 ADR and a 2.47 KD. With this victory it was down to the final match of the event, the lower bracket qualifier decider against Rise, a matchup where the two organisations have only faced each other once, way back in 2020 with different lineups, only Daniel "eeiu" Vucenovic & Sam "s0m" Oh are the remaining players who suffered the defeat against rise. NRG took the first map on Ascent in a swift 13-2 victory, again it was ANDROID who was the man of the moment who topped the stats. With the qualification spot on the line, Rise had it all to do in the second map, Breeze, if they had any chance of staying in the match and get the qualification spot but it was another dominating performance from NRG as they took the map win with another 13-3 scoreline, this time round it was Daniel "eeiu" Vucenovic who rampaged through his opponents with a 1.74 rating, 254 ACS, 162.80 ADR and a colossal 6.33 KD.

NRG Esports make a familiar return to the elite division of North American events, this time round they will be looking to make their way to the international circuit by grabbing that Masters 1 slot.

In other news from the event, T1 were made to forfeit half way through their match against TSM due to T1 coach David "dd8" Denis being in violation of competitive ruling 7.2.11, Unauthorized Communications. This led TSM FTX advancing to the next round to face Akrew but couldn’t capitalize and were knocked out of the qualifier.

With the first qualifier complete, VCT 2022 - North America - Stage 1 - Open Qualifier 1 now has the following teams:

Invited:

Qualified: